Californians—or at least those Californians of a wonky sort—are marking the 100th anniversary of the state’s initiative process, October 10, with a series of events around the state. But I doubt any of the words spoken at those events will be truer than those delivered by Bruno Kaufmann, a journalist and president of the Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe, at a September 21 forum hosted in San Francisco by the Swiss consulate.

Contrasting California’s use of the initiative with the Swiss system Hiram Johnson and the Progressives used as their model, Kaufmann said:

Your process is much more about enabling conflict, but not about solving conflict. You use it like a hammer, when what you need is a screwdriver.

The California Fix

Their fast-paced and often humorous narrative deftly exposes the origins of our current political and fiscal problems—from the ugly 1879 constitutional convention to Hiram Johnson’s Progressive reforms to the Prop 13 tax revolt and its legacy of supermajority requirements and voter initiatives.

Mathews and Paul then furnish an uniquely California fix: innovative solutions that allow Californians to debate their choices, settle on the best ones, hold elected officials accountable for results, and choose anew if something doesn’t work.